How many countries in Africa? How hard can the question be?

Africa is one continent but how many countries? we were asked. The answer is more complicated than you might think but, simply put, there are 55 states that are recognised by either the AU or the UN or both.

UPDATE: Morocco rejoined the Africa Union in January 2017, 32 years after leaving the union's predecessor, the OAU. The African Union now has 55 members. This includes Western Sahara, which Morocco does not recognise as an independent country. - 31/07/2017

“How many countries does the continent have in its entirety?” asked a message sent to us by a group of information security advocates.

The sender, @Infosecafrica, noted that Africa’s regional political organisation the African Union has 54 members but had seen a report claiming the continent is home to 57 countries.

So how many countries does Africa have? The AU claims to represent all African countries. So are there 54 or 57? How hard – we thought – can the question be?

The AU does have 54 members

Working out how many members there are of the African Union is indeed quite easy.

As set out on this list, it has 54 members. One of them – the Central African Republic – though still a member is suspended, or “under political sanction” following a coup.

So is that the answer? Africa comprises 54 countries, all members of the AU.

Well no, because not all Africa’s countries are in fact AU members.

Morocco is not a member

Morocco, to start with is clearly a country, clearly part of Africa, and is a member of the United Nations’ Africa group. But it is not a member of the AU.

Morocco withdrew from the AU’s predecessor, the Organisation of African Union, in 1984 after the OAU approved the membership of the Saharan Arab Democratic Republic – aka the Western Sahara – a country (or Morocco would say a territory) that Morocco refuses to recognise.

So is the answer to the question – Moroccan objections aside – fifty-five? This would comprise all the AU members, including the Saharan Republic, plus Morocco.

And what about Somaliland?

Well it seems the most reliable figure, unless of course you consider Somaliland a country.

According to the Oxford English Dictionary, a country is “a nation with its own government, occupying a particular territory” – which “Somaliland” does, having declared independence from Somalia in 1991, set up a government and controlled its territory from its capital Hargeisa ever since.

More than two decades on from its declaration, it is treated by many nations and organisations as a country in all but name, but it is not recognised as such by its neighbours.

And the same is true for other territories with less de facto claim to nationhood.

Not just an African phenomenon

While it might seem a quirk not to be able to say, for sure, how many countries there are on the continent, the disagreement over numbers is not limited to Africa.

In Asia, there is disagreement about whether Taiwan, which split off from China in 1949, is an independent nation, or not. Worried by threats of retaliation from Beijing if it were to declare formal independence, it has not done so. But from its capital, Taipei, it maintains its own, democratically-elected, government and currency and runs itself independently of China; a country in all but name.

And in Europe, while most powers recognise Kosovo as an independent state, Serbia, its neighbour, does not. So in Europe too, there is uncertainty about how many countries there are.

Conclusion: 55 recognised states

The best answer to @Infosecafrica’s question that we have come up with is to say there are 55 states that are internationally recognised and members of either the AU or the UN or both. Fifty-three of these belong to both the AU and UN lists. Morocco is not part of the AU but is a member of the UN. The Saharan Arab Democratic Republic is part of the AU.

In addition, while there are various other territories that claim independence, there is also one de facto state, as described under the normal definitions of what makes a country, which is Somaliland. It is not, however, a recognised state. Any advance on that, let us know.

Hi Thad. Yes, South Sudan is included in our calculations. Including South Sudan, Western Sahara and Morocco, we conclude there are 55 countries in Africa, recognised by either the UN or the African Union or both.

Well setting aside member countries being recognised (or not) by the UN or the AU, how many countries IN ALL form part of the continent? I mean i got 58 –in all– including Morocco, Western Sahara, South Sudan AND Mayotte?
Is Mayotte a country or just an island among the Comoros? Wikipedia describes it as a ‘department and region’…

Hi Arjun
Thanks for your query. Our conclusion is 55 recognised countries, Mayotte not being one of them. Others such as Somaliland can make a claim to be a de facto state, but it is not internationally recognised.
Africa Check

Somaliland We can’t call an independent country or even a country who has its own government because all governmental management of somaliland involves at the aid of somali federal government so forget about to be an independent country

Western Sahara is a thorny issue. Although it is a member of the AU, it lacks the international recognition that is usually required for a state to be thought of as a state. To complicate matters, several African countries have also withdrawn their recognition of the Sahrawi Republic.

The issue at hand is one of supporting self-determination, while avoid talk of cessation. But to get back to the topic, I think a broad count like 55 doesn’t really work, because of the special circumstances. If the question is how many countries, we should be looking at international recognition. South Sudan is now an excellent example of that.

Somaliland has the most clean-cut case for International recognition of its independence. Which is that Somaliland upon its independence from the British Voluntarily merged with Somalia Italian to create the Somali Republic (AKA Somalia). Somalia imploded in the early nineties, can became a failed state, which is what it is currently. So in short Somaliland’s independence is based on the failed unified state of Somalia, thus has gone back to its default position. Unlike other nations who sought independence Somaliland is actually better functioning then the state it is breaking away from. Mogadishu is currently under AU trusteeship.

There are 47 countries on the African continent, including the disputed territory of Western Sahara. However, the islands off the coast are also usually listed as African, bringing the total to 53. The island nations are Cape Verde, São Tomé and Príncipe, Madagascar, the Comoros, the Seychelles, and Mauritius.

Thanks for the good work Africa Check. My hope is that this website goes further in contributing to the history, democratization and development of Africa. Otherwise, number of countries is less a point of discussion and bound to come to a deadend very quickly.

Did you know that this great continent has less than 15 core languages
? That’s if dialects are lumped together into core languages, e.g. Nguni standard language when Zulu, Xhosa, Swazi and Ndebele dialects are harmonised. Then we say , instead of saying 4 separate languages, we have 1 Nguni language with its variant dialetcs (abaove) that are mutually intelligible up to 80%. The Nguni (standard) language is one of the less than 15 core African (standard) languages.

Ethiopia is prime ministerial, not presidential. Prime Minister died in office after nearly 20 years. He handpicked the current office holder who has no constituency and hence no power base. How could you overlook such a glaring fact?

first i would like to thank you all,i’m Somalilander Somaliland is a country which has its own territory,flag,currency,army,house of parliament and all government offices.
Somaliland people elects whom they want to be their president,free and fair elections were held several times in Somliland which voted by the Somalilanders.This may not happen some African countries but according to AU and UN still did not recognise.
THAT IS UNFAIR

I greatly appreciate the volume and complexity of work that must be involved in trying to pull all the pieces of this puzzle together. Thank you for your efforts. Ever since Africa started being split apart by European conquests (as well as South America, Central America, the Caribbean Islands and Asia) and doled out to various European countries for ownership, initiating the wanton ravishing of its people and resources, understanding the complexity of the Continent has been a challenge. And then over time, things change. With leaders who at one time never really had much power after the European conquests suddenly at the helm, ego and greed have, unfortunately, (for many – not all) replaced the desires expressed during election campaigns of what was best for the people. These conquests left many leaders and countries scrambling to control what was left, often pitting them against each other, and often influenced by the agendas of outside governments, which have led to many catastrophes. It is sad what has become of Africa, as well as the other locations I have mentioned as well. The changing shapes of Africa – and the world – will continue to shift and evolve largely due to the splintering that was started so many years ago and the ability of conscious people to lead toward a unification that serves the need of the majority, not the small percentage of the wealthy and powerful. But we know that some people just never learned the concept of “enough.” They are driven to take and take and take by any means necessary, no matter the cost that is paid by others or the cost paid by our increasingly fragile earth, oceans and atmosphere.

So, yes, while this service at this time may have a restricted focus, and as Meb reflected in a comment in 2016, may not go more into the “history, democratization and develop of Africa,” there are many other sources that do. (I would be happy to refer others to some of these sources.) I don’t think that one site should feel the need to do it all. We’re talking about a massive amount of information covering centuries – that continues to change as life goes on. And while the information provided here may have its limits, its potential usefulness is not up to the staff of this web site. That’s on us. I do what I can through bilingual storytelling and percussion. It can be that simple. May we use this information well as we contribute our own efforts to bringing more peace and justice to the world. Thank you for listening. Peace.

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For democracy to function, public figures need to be held to account for what they say. The claims they make need to be checked, openly and impartially. Africa Check is an independent, non-partisan organisation which assesses claims made in the public arena using journalistic skills and evidence drawn from the latest online tools, readers, public sources and experts, sorting fact from fiction and publishing the results.